


Without His Smile

by Elfy (elfowlgirl)



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24411697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfowlgirl/pseuds/Elfy
Summary: After the fight with the Boar, Zalvetta comforts Gregor. Spoilers for TI 333.
Relationships: Gregor Hartway & Zalvetta, Gregor Hartway/Zalvetta
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Without His Smile

Zalvetta had been prepared for many things when they met again -- to see Gregor’s brilliant smile, hear his bright laugh, to study the endearing way his eyebrows quirked when he was thinking about something. He thought so long about what he would say and how Gregor would beam in the way that Gregor did. This was none of that.

He could handle Gregor being angry or annoyed or jealous or even spiteful. Zalvetta was not unaccustomed to people hating him, and even if Gregor was not the kind of person who would treat him that way, some small part of his mind had prepared for the possibility. Instead, Gregor was  _ sad _ \-- and not  _ just  _ sad. Well and truly mourning the loss of his friend.

Zalvetta was not unaccustomed to this feeling, but it had happened so long ago that it might as well have been a dream. This was  _ now _ and Gregor was Gregor and he needed to find some way, however small, to help. The look on Gregor’s face made Zalvetta’s chest hurt like he’d been stabbed.

While everyone else in the castle seemed to be trying to reassure one another (mostly Kyr) that things would be okay, Zalvetta put his hand on Gregor’s arm and quietly led him away to the next room. He removed his mask, then helped Gregor to the stone ground and sat beside him, letting Gregor rest his head on Zalvetta’s chest.

They sat like that for a while. The castle was eerily quiet, so Zalvetta listened to Gregor’s rapid heartbeat and his shaky breathing. After a few minutes and his pulse seemed to have calmed some, Zalvetta finally asked: “Do you want to talk about it?”

When Gregor spoke, his voice was quiet and hoarse, like he was choking on his own words. “He’s gone, Zalvetta. Ashe disappeared to who-knows-where and now Markus is probably dead or worse. It’s happening again. I… I can’t keep...  _ losing  _ people.”

Zalvetta rubbed his hand against Gregor’s shoulder. He was struggling to figure out what to say to something like that. This was Gregor Hartway, who had faced down a country and a god and come out no worse for wear. There were times when he and his friends seemed like impossible heroes who could tackle anything and bounce back no matter what.

“I know it hurts,” Zalvetta murmured as he moved Gregor closer in the closest thing to a hug he had ever initiated. “But your friends are resilient bastards. And I know it’s hard not knowing, but… Markus isn’t the kind of person who’d just  _ let _ something kill him, even if it killed everyone else.”

Gregor’s head nodded slightly. “He…  _ has  _ died before…”

Owing to Zalvetta’s own experiences with another, different blond-haired son of a bitch who seemed to come back from the dead regardless of what someone did to him, this comment did not sound as strange to Zalvetta as it perhaps should have. It gave Gregor hope, and that was what mattered.

“And if he is alive… we’ll find him. And we’ll find Ashe, too.”

Zalvetta resisted the urge to mention that they would both be getting their asses kicked for leaving Gregor and making him so upset.

“But what if he’s  _ not? _ "

“Then…” Zalvetta paused and let out a deep breath. “Then we’ll figure out what to do. If you want me to go to Kuravia and drag the strongest necromancer I can find here kicking and screaming I will.”

Gregor was silent for a while. Perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say.

Eventually, Zalvetta continued: “But I’m here for you, Gregor. If we have to go to the ends of the world to find him, that’s okay. If you want to wait or don’t want to know, we can go home. And if you want to run away…”

This time it truly was a hug. An embrace Zalvetta would have cherished at any other moment but this one. He hated that he couldn’t fix this. This was not an enemy to fight or kill -- this was pure and raw emotion, something Zalvetta had trouble handling even in regards to himself.

“And if you want to run away,” Zalvetta spoke softly into Gregor’s shoulder as he held him close. “Then I’ll follow you.”


End file.
